Heroes of Might and Magic V (New World Computing)
Before Ubisoft purchased the franchise, Heroes of Might and Magic V had already been under development at New World Computing. Though the original incarnation of the title went unreleased when publisher 3DO filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in mid-2003, several relevant interviews and pieces of concept art offer some insight into the developers' intentions. Ultimately, Ubisoft chose not to adapt any elements of New World Computing's work in the finished game. Gameplay Mechanics Jon Van Caneghem was more closely involved in the design of Heroes V than Heroes IV, and attempted to redesign the Heroes IV engine to more fully support a pure strategy game than one with abundant roleplaying elements. The game was to feature more of a focus on strategic decision-making than questing, and its maps would have storylines more suited to such gameplay. The AI was to undergo a complete rewrite from scratch, reusing no code from any of the previous games.Interview with Jon Van Caneghem on Heroes V .]] The spell system was intended to include a pool of generic spells available to all factions, along with six additional schools unique to a certain faction, in a similar vein to the Rune Magic and Warcries of Ubisoft's Heroes V. The Underground map layer was planned to be removed for creative reasons, and a random map generator was under development. Rendered artwork suggests that towns were to expand on the adventure map when sufficiently upgraded. Factions Three town lineups out of a total of six had been created and awaiting refinement. One was a purple-attired Haven similar to that of Heroes IV, another was a feline-style town in the style of the Sorceress town or Preserve, and the third was a reptillian faction blending elements of both the Heroes III Fortress and the Lizardkin society of the Dagger Wound Islands in Might and Magic VIII. Rendered artwork of all three factions was created and later released by Tracy Iwata, one of the series' long-time artists.[http://oldpage.150m.com/hommpage.htm Tracy Iwata's Heroes of Might and Magic artwork] 's creature renders for the Faerie-style town.]] Keith Talanay created several architectural rendersKeith's Talanay's portfolio, while Nowa Morisaku-Yu drew concept art for the team.Nowa Morisaku-Yu's portfolio Other creatures with such art which had either not been modelled or released include the Cyclops, Harpy, Minotaur, Vampire, Valkyrie, Warlock and Wizard. Titans, Giants and several Dragons were to return, alongside all-new creatures. Additionally, Jon Van Caneghem essentially confirmed that Genies would make an appearance. An undead faction was on the drawing board.Interview with Christian Vanover Plot Though no concrete information was released regarding the game's storyline, Christian Vanover strongly hinted that it was to take place in Axeoth. The presence of purple-attired Haven units and an Elven faction could suggest that the campaigns were to involve Palaedra and Aranorn. Alternatively, the Lizardkin imply that it may have taken place on Aalondor, Axeoth's only known unexplored continent. Gallery NWCH5Castle.png|The Castle as rendered by Keith Talanay NWCH5NecropolisBasic.png|Low-level Necropolis as rendered by Keith Talanay NWCH5Keep.png|Keep as rendered by Keith Talanay NWCH5LumberMill.png|Lumber Mill as rendered by Keith Talanay NWCH5OreRefinery.png|Ore Refinery as rendered by Keith Talanay H5NWCHaven.png|Haven lineup as rendered by Tracy Iwata H5NWCLizards.png|Lizard-style lineup as rendered by Tracy Iwata H5NWCSquire.png|Squire as rendered by Tracy Iwata H5NWCArcher.png|Archer as rendered by Tracy Iwata H5NWCPikeman.png|Pikeman as rendered by Tracy Iwata H5NWCCleric.png|Cleric as rendered by Tracy Iwata H5NWCPaladin.png|Paladin as rendered by Tracy Iwata H5NWCChampion.png|Champion as rendered by Tracy Iwata H5NWCSprite.png|Sprite as rendered by Tracy Iwata H5NWCLionman.png|Lionman as rendered by Tracy Iwata H5NWCCatelf.png|Catelf as rendered by Tracy Iwata H5NWCFirewolf.png|Firewolf as rendered by Tracy Iwata H5NWCUnicorn.png|Unicorn as rendered by Tracy Iwata H5NWCPhoenix.png|Phoenix as rendered by Tracy Iwata H5NWCSphinx.png|Sphinx as rendered by Tracy Iwata H5NWCLizardWarrior.png|Lizard Warrior as rendered by Tracy Iwata H5NWCViper.png|Viper as rendered by Tracy Iwata H5NWCLizardMage.png|Lizard Mage as rendered by Tracy Iwata H5NWCWyvern.png|Wyvern as rendered by Tracy Iwata H5NWCHydra.png|Hydra as rendered by Tracy Iwata H5NWCDragon.png|Dragon as rendered by Tracy Iwata NWCH5ConceptSquire.png|Squire as drawn by Nowa Morisaku-Yu NWCH5ConceptArcher.png|Archer as drawn by Nowa Morisaku-Yu NWCH5ConceptPikeman.png|Pikeman as drawn by Nowa Morisaku-Yu NWCH5ConceptCleric.png|Cleric as drawn by Nowa Morisaku-Yu NWCH5ConceptChampion.png|Champion as drawn by Nowa Morisaku-Yu NWCH5ConceptSprite.png|Sprite as drawn by Nowa Morisaku-Yu NWCH5ConceptCatelf.png|Archer as drawn by Nowa Morisaku-Yu NWCH5ConceptUnicorn.png|Unicorn as drawn by Tracy Iwata NWCH5ConceptFaerieTown.png|Faerie town view as drawn by Nowa Morisaku-Yu NWCH5ConceptHarpy.png|Harpy as drawn by Nowa Morisaku-Yu NWCH5ConceptCyclops.png|Cyclops as drawn by Nowa Morisaku-Yu NWCH5ConceptValkyrie.png|Valkyrie as drawn by Nowa Morisaku-Yu NWCH5ConceptChariot.png|Valkyrie's chariot as drawn by Nowa Morisaku-Yu NWCH5ConceptMinotaur.png|Minotaur as drawn by Nowa Morisaku-Yu NWCH5ConceptVampire.png|Vampire as drawn by Nowa Morisaku-Yu NWCH5ConceptWarlock.png|Warlock as drawn by Nowa Morisaku-Yu NWCH5ConceptWizard.png|Wizard as drawn by Nowa Morisaku-Yu Sources ru:Heroes of Might and Magic V (NWC) Category:Games